The Groundwork to do Before You Make a Scary Ask with Andrea Guthrie of Gyde & Seek

Andrea Guthrie is the co-founder of Gyde & Seek, a disruptive travel tech startup connecting discerning travelers with rigorously vetted guides and specialists in 20 global destinations across four continents. Andrea is also a board member of Shoe Carnival, a $1 billion footwear retailer, and she is also the Chairman of the Board of Panda Labs in Park City, Utah. 

Previously, Andrea was Senior Vice President of Strategic New Businesses at Claire's Stores, and a Principal at Boston Consulting Group where she focused on the retail consumer and travel industries. Andrea has lived on four different continents and is an avid supporter of entrepreneurship particularly, female founders.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn

• Speed round with Andrea Guthrie
• Adrea shares why her scariest ask was raising money from institutional investors and how she prepared for it
• Issues to think about before going out to seek an investor 
• How to prepare yourself for when things don’t go the way you thought they would 
• Andrea’s take on getting comfortable with asking 
• When and how to be kind to yourself in the process of asking 
• Andrea talks about some positive things that came out of the COVID-19 pandemic
• How Adrea decides if she’s going to say yes to someone

In this episode…

Going out to raise money is one of the scariest things for many entrepreneurs to do, and this is especially true for those who don’t have a lot of experience. Andrea Guthrie shared that fear but she knew she couldn’t let it cripple her desire to raise capital. She and her business partner, Vanessa Guibert Heitner, had to do the groundwork to feel confident that they had a viable and scalable business and that helped them become comfortable with their ask. 

What’s the groundwork you need to do before you make that scary ask? How do you get over the feeling of vulnerability when asking? And in the process, how and when should you show kindness to yourself? Tune in to this episode of What's Your Ask as Stephanie Sims gets answers to those questions and more from Andrea Guthrie of Gyde and Seek.

P.S. Here’s Andrea’s questions for you: how are you thinking about meeting your need for capital? Are you either initiating a new funding round or adjusting your business model to need less capital and grow more slowly now and post COVID-19? Leave a comment or send your answer to Andrea through her email address, [email protected].

Resources Mentioned in this episode

• Gyde & Seek
• Andrea Guthrie on LinkedIn 
• Vanessa Guibert Heitner on LinkedIn 
• Andrea’s Email: [email protected]
• Finance-Ability
• Stephanie Sims
• Stephanie Sims LinkedIn

Sponsor for this episode...

Finance-Ability is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping business owners and startups find their best options for growth funding. Founded by financial strategist and transaction expert Stephanie Sims, Finance-Ability can help any business owner identify the right funding partners and get through fundraising as painlessly as possible.

Visit their website to take their online assessment test to help you find out which kind of funding is the best fit for your business right now. They also have a ton of resources to help you understand business processes and financial decision-making that can help you start and build your own empire so be sure to check them out.

Stephanie has over 20 years of experience having worked with companies like Goldman Sachs and CSFB. If there’s anyone with their heart in the right place when it comes to championing the dreams of small business owners and startup companies, Stephanie is that person. Let Finance-Ability help you get the funding you need and deserve to get your dreams soaring high towards your own brand of success.